Social probs a barrier to getting work

Barriers to employment such as disabilities, health problems and homelessness are more prevalent in Cambuslang than Rutherglen.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed people in Cambuslang are frequently facing greater obstacles than their counterparts when trying to get a job.

Sus anMcGhee, DWP customer service operations manager, spoke to the Reformer as the unemployment figures for December 2016 were published.

The figures show the total number of people in receipt of job seekers allowance or universal credit in December in Cambuslang was 435.

In Rutherglen 445 people were in receipt of those benefits.

The numbers are largely the same as those published in August of last year when unemployment stood at 885 across the area as a whole.

Ms McGhee said work was being done to support people back into employment and said there was a particular focus on helping people overcome challenges in Cambuslang.

She said: “In Rutherglen they do have quite a buoyant and steady reduction in case loads and they do have, in terms of customer outcomes, a high percentage of customers going into work.

“In Cambus lang there is a higher level of deprivation. There’s also a lot of homelessness in that area.

“We have set up links with community organisations to tackle that and put in more support and developed strategies to identify and support homeless customers in that area.

“We also have a higher percentage of customers that have health issues, we are trying to identify what their conditions are and its about supporting customers to get to a level where they are able to enter the labour market.”

Explaining she is speaking to employers about the health and disability agenda within the workplace, Ms McGhee added: “We are raising the level of awareness with employers about looking at the customer as an individual, but also looking at what support is available to the employers in terms of workplace adaptations.”

Ms McGhee also encouraged people to look at the unemployment figures over the course of a year, which shows unemployment has fallen by 27 per cent.

There are 193 fewer people signing on in December 2016 when compared to the same period the previous year.

A high percentage of going into work in Rutherglen DWP